As Telstra places ever more conditions and demands ever more taxpayer funding in return for its participation in the Labor Government's National BroadBand Network (NBN) program, Western Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has called to assume a majority stake in the project in order to guarantee that the public interest be safeguarded.

Also published on citizensagainstsellingtelstra.com. Original media release of 3 Dec 08 from Scott Ludlam's Web site. See also:, "$5bn more needed on broadband: Telstra" in the Australian IT Section of 4 Dec 08, "Telstra call centres in crisis" in the Australian IT Section of 2 Dec 08, "Telstra cuts widow off from world" in the Toowoomba Chronicle of 30 Nov 08, ...

Those who have accepted the necessity of the current fire sale of NSW government assets and the recent "slash and burn" budget, which is taking that state into recession, may be amazed to learn of the staggering blow-out in the costs of the World Youth Day celebrations held in Sydney in July 2008. In addition the Minister for State Development is prepared to bill NSW taxpayers up to $AU86million over three years to pay for planned V8 supercar races to be held at Olympic Park.

See also: NSW Electricity Privatisation, "Youth day ran $100m over budget" in SMH of 27 Nov 08 and more subdued reporting in "World Youth Day bill $100m over budget" in the Australian of 26 Nov 08 , NSW Auditor-General's World Youth Day Report (pdf, 45K)
"Why the V8 Supercars will be taxpayer-injected" in SMH of 29 Sep 08, "O'Farrell vows to restore free travel" on the ABC on 13 Nov 08, "Say no to v8 supercar racing at Olympic Park" on Lee Rhiannon's website, Parliamantary debate of V8 Supercar Races at Sydney Olympic Park of 24 Nov 08

Internet users are face with the technological equivalent of Australia Post being required to open every one of their letters if the Federal Government's proposed mandatory Internet Filtering legisltation becomes law. It will slow down internet access speeds and is opposed by the industry and internet users alike.

See also: "Filtering out the fury: how government tried to gag web censor critics" in the SMH of 24 Oct 08, "Filtering Pilot and ACMA Blacklist - Not just 'illegal' material" on Electronic Frontiers Australia on 15 Nov 08, "Net censorship plan backlash" in the Age of 11 Nov 08, YouTube broadcast of Senator Scott Ludlum questioning Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy about the planned censorship, "Winning the war against Internet censorship" by David Jackmanson on Online Opinion of 17 Nov 08, Online Opinion Forum "What's happening about the internet censor?" of 13 Nov 08, "Australia Joins China In Censoring The Internet" on TechCrunch of 30 Dec 07, www.scottludlam.org.au

What policies should the Queensland Greens take to the state election?

At a summit to save the Great Barrier Reef on 24 October, Premier Anna Bligh asked the public how to improve the sediment-laden water that threatens to choke the Reef. She still plans to triple Queensland's record export rate of climate-changing coal by 2030, and ignores Greens MP Ronan Lee's advice to restore water monitoring programs axed by her Government in 1999.

See also: "Queensland Government cracks down on farmers near Barrier Reef" on the ABC of 27 Oct 08, "Qld may regulate farms to save Reef" in SMH of 24 Oct 08, "Great Barrier Reef summit today" in The Australian of 24 Oct 08.

NSW Greens Legislative Councillor Dr John Kaye, who helped lead the successful campaign against the planned privatisation of that state's electricty assets earlier this year, calls upon NSW Premier Rees to resist the plans by Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard, recently endorsed by COAG, to privatise its TAFE colleges.

See also: "Govts planning TAFE privatisation: NSW Greens" on the ABC on 29 Oct 08, "TAFE Bulletin - Brumby's reforms will privatise our TAFEs" on Web site of Vic branch of Australian Education Union on 12 Aug 08, Australian Education Union Stop TAFE Privatisation Campaign.

Why is NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal threatening a slash-and-burn budget entailing the risk of a recession in order satisfy Credit Ratings agencies implicated in the subprime mortgage crisis in the US?

See also "Treasurer talks tax rises, job cuts" in SMH of 13 Oct 08, "Tax hike risk if NSW remains in the red" in the Australian of 12 Oct 08.

In Australia both major political parties support record high immigration. This ensures that it is rarely questioned in Parliament or in the news. In Canada, the situation is even worse₁. Dan Murray reports that Canadians face a 'choice' at the Federal elections scheduled for 31 October of four out of five major parties which see nothing wrong with Canada's record high and growing immigration rate and none which are campaigning to reduce it.

Originally published on Immigration Watch Canada (www.immigrationwatchcanada.org) on 14 Sep 08.
See also: "Truth and immigration" by James Bissett former Head of Canadian Immigration Service in the Ottowa Citizen of 18 Sep 08.

NSW Greens leader John Kaye warns NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal that 'buying high, selling low' is not a winning formula.

On 16 September Greens Senator Bob Brown asked of Senator Chris Evans, who as Immigration Minister on 16 May, increased further Australia's already record high immigration numbers at the behest of business leaders: Did his Government have a population policy? Senator Evans admitted that his Government did not.

Canadian Greens leader, Elizabeth May has for years advocated packing ever more people closer together away from Canada's natural bounty. However, recently she made an about face and argued instead that immigrants should be spread out into rural areas.

Brian Gordon, endorsed candidate for the Green Party of Canada has argued that Canada must conduct a 'sustainability audit' to determine how many people Canada can realistically support if it produces all of is own necessities, ceases the destruction of old-growth forests and excludes the usustainable mining of tar sands and coal.

Original article Immigration: How Much is Enough for Canada? published on 6 March 2008. The standard of much of the discussion that ensued was very high.
See also: Is there intelligent life on Planet Green? of 9 Sep 08, Is it reactionary to oppose immigration? of 19 Dec 07 on webdiary.com.au; Will "the great immigration debate" take place? of 21 May 08 on larvatusprodeo.net; Have the Greens lost the plot on immigration? of 11 Jul 08 on Online Opinion.

As a result of reporting rules NSW voters voting at local government elections on 14 September won't know until February next year which corporate donors are bankrolling which candidates.

NSW Greens leader John Kaye defends Opposition leader Barry O'Farrell. O'Farrell and the NSW Opposition are now under concerted attack by the corporate sector and their newsmedia for having blocked Treasurer Costa's privatisation legislation in accord with the wishes of over 80% of the NSW public last Thursday.

See also: Iemma dodges his own $42 billion debt bomb (SMH, 1 Sep) by Barry O'Farrell, Mike Baird should make his move now - Online Opinion forum discussion about pro-privatisation state Liberal MP Mike Baird, now the darling of the corporate newsmedia.

What you can do: Join FaceBook site Support Clean Energy NOT Privatisation of NSW Electricity run by NSW Liberal MLA Peter Debnam. Peter Debnam's statement on privatisation can be found here and is also appended to this article.

The United Services Union has called its members working in call centres of Energy Australia, Integral Energy and Country Energy off the job in protest against Premier Morris Iemma's 'plan B sell-off' announced late on Thursday.

See also: Iemma unethical, says ALP backbencher, Torbay urged to fire up in power debate

After an expensive recall of Parliament to debate privatisation bills which NSW Treasurer Costa claimed to be "the most important pieces of economic reform contemplated in this State in a generation," debate was cut short after less than 3 hours. The perseverative Costa came back however with lesser plans to privatise the retail arm of NSW's electricity assets without scrutiny by the NSW Parliament.

Contents: Power retail sell-off plan punishes households and environment, Costa, Iemma must resign over back-door sale move, Costa's cowardly retreat from stunt gone wrong, speech by Dr John Kaye, speech by Sylvia Hale.

See also: NSW electricity privatisation can be stopped!

See also: NSW electricity privatisation can be stopped!, Costa threatens MPs over electricity, Rallying against power privatisation, Democratic rights must be respected says State Independent candidate

The Australian Greens Senators, with the support of Independent Senators will move to set up a Senate Inquiry to establish exactly what water in the Murray Darling system can be used to save the RAMSAR listed Coorong and lower Murray River lakes from acidification.

See also: Keep fighting for the Murray Darling in spite of our Government, Oz Turtles pay horrible price of mindless market-focus: S.A. Murray-Darling, Coorong tragedy was avoidable: Greens Senator Siewert, Why did Karlene Maywald conceal surrender in fight to save Coorong from Goolwa meeting?, Minister Karlene Maywald 'too busy' for Save the Murray rally of 1 Aug 08, Why Karlene Maywald must lose water portfolio of 10 Aug 08, River inaction something to shout about of 11 Aug 08, River Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc.

What you can do: attend Melbourne water forum Thu 4 Sep, 7pm at Dante's ...

W.A. Greens Senator Siewert: "The Coorong and these other critically threatened wetlands could have been Montreaux listed, and the Commonwealth's powers under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act evoked to ensure environmental water was delivered,"

In spite of the fact that only on 11 July Mike Kelly Federal Labor Member for Eden-Monaro seemingly quashed speculation that the Government was preparing to privatise the Snowy Hydro scheme, two pages of the Snowy corporation's July newsletter was devoted to pushing the case for privatisation.

In spite of overwhelming opposition to the privatisation NSW Premier Morris Iemma engages in disruptive and and costly political stunt to 'position' NSW power assets for sell-off.

See also: ABC gives free kick to Iemma, NSW electricity privatisation of 21 Jul 08.

In a last ditch attempt to rescue NSW Treasurer Michael Costa's electricity privatisation push, the Rudd government has ignored Professor Ross Garnaut's opposition to compensating power stations for the costs of emissions trading, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

Sue Pennicuik: "The community is not the enemy and the government would do better listening to what people have to say rather than silencing critics."

Professor Ross Garnaut claimed in his Climate Change Review Draft Report that public ownership of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority could restrict future development and competitiveness in the national electricity market. This appears to have been seized upon by Kevin Rudd as an excuse to privatise the Snowy Hydro in spite of the fact he promised before the 2007 elections to keep it in public hands.

WA Premier, Alan Carpenter

The Western Australian State Government has threatened to withhold funding for the restoration of jetties at both Bunbury and Busselton unless approval for waterfront developments opposed by the respective communities of Bunbury and Busselton is given.

For more information: contact Paul Llewellyn on 08 9848 1555 or 0428 317 182

“The dredging of toxic sediments from the Yarra River should stop until an investigation is carried out into the discovery of dead fish floating in the water at Newport on Saturday”, Victorian state Greens MP, Sue Pennicuik said.

See also www.bluewedges.org

NSW Treasurer Michael Costa's misleading attack on climate change reviewer Professor Ross Garnaut's emissions trading proposal is a last-ditch attempt to rescue the Iemma government's electricity privatisation push, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

The Taverner Research poll released today showed that a massive 79% of the poll sample rejected Electricity privatisation. This confirms that NSW voters have not been fooled by the Iemma government's power sell-off rhetoric, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

See also: SMH articles: Jittery Labor MPs get ready to dump Iemma of 29 Jun 08, Poll piles pressure on Iemma of 29 Jun 08, Poll adds to string of bad news for Iemma of 30 June 08.

The Growth Management Industry, consisting of planning departments and pink and green growthists who belief that growth can be rendered ecologically benign by being channelled or fenced behind boundaries speak of "smart" growth the way the Pentagon speaks of "smart" bombs. Surgically targetted away from collateral damage like greenbelts and parks. But Brishen Hoff in this letter to a Green Party member, proves that no matter where they are distributed, people impact the environment. Numbers matter.